During a panel discussion at Climate Week NYC, Carrier laid out plans for a next-gen residential HVAC system that runs like a hybrid car. The system is designed with a battery backup, and will allow homeowners to charge up their HVAC when the price is low, leading them to not only a lower utility bill, but also addressing grid resiliency. The HVAC industry already accounts for anywhere from 20% to 70% of the load on the electrical grid, and grid resiliency is one of the biggest hurdles to electrification in the U.S. Plus, the load on the grid is increasing, which means that its capacity has to increase as well. And according to Hakam Yilmaz, senior vice president and chief technology and sustainability officer at Carrier, the built environment is a big part of the problem because energy availability is taken for granted. Yilmaz called Carrier’s new units a “super disruptive technology that we’re working on.” While today HVAC units pull electricity from the grid whenever its needed, including peak usage times, in contrast, the new hybrid unit will come with built-in lithium-ion batteries that can charge when the price is low and the grid is running on clean energy.

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